We analysed nitrogen oxides (N₂O, NO) and carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions from two beech forest soils close to Vienna, Austria, which were exposed to different nitrogen input from the atmosphere. The site Schottenwald (SW) received 20.2 kg N ha⁻¹ y⁻¹ and Klausenleopoldsdorf (KL) 12.6 kg N ha⁻¹ y⁻¹ through wet deposition. Nitric oxide emissions from soil were measured hourly with an automatic dynamic chamber system. Daily N₂O measurements were carried out by an automatic gas sampling system. Measurements of nitrous oxide (N₂O) and CO₂ emissions were conducted over larger areas on a biweekly (SW) or monthly (KL) basis by manually operated chambers. We used an autoregression procedure (time-series analysis) for establishing time-lagged relationships between N-oxides emissions and different climate, soil chemistry and N-deposition data. It was found that changes in soil moisture and soil temperature significantly effected CO₂ and N-oxides emissions with a time lag of up to two weeks and could explain up to 95% of the temporal variations of gas emissions. Event emissions after rain or during freezing and thawing cycles contributed significantly (for NO 50%) to overall N-oxides emissions. In the two-year period of analysis the annual gaseous N₂O emissions at SW ranged from 0.64 to 0.79 kg N ha⁻¹ y⁻¹ and NO emissions were 0.24 to 0.49 kg N ha⁻¹ per vegetation period. In KL significantly lower annual N₂O emissions (0.52 to 0.65 kg N₂O-N kg ha⁻¹ y⁻¹) as well as considerably lower NO-emissions were observed. During a three-month measurement campaign NO emissions at KL were 0.02 kg N ha⁻¹), whereas in the same time period significantly more NO was emitted in SW (0.32 kg NO-N ha⁻¹). Higher N-oxides emissions, especially NO emissions from the high N-input site (SW) may indicate that atmospheric deposition has an impact on emissions of gaseous N from our forest soils. At KL there was a strong correlation between N-deposition and N-emission over time, which shows that low N-input sites are especially responsive to increasing N-inputs.

Windbreaks are key structural elements in the rural environment and affect the functionality of landscapes in multiple ways. A broad interdisciplinary view on these functions lacks in scientific literature and common knowledge. This led to under informed management decisions, a decrease in the number of windbreaks in wide areas, and a subsequent loss of landscape functionality. Therefore, the knowledge on windbreaks and associated ecosystem services (ES) was systematically reviewed to guide the way for a holistic comprehension of such structural landscape elements. We defined eight bundles of ES on the basis of the Common International Classification of ES scheme. Search terms that allowed to include only vegetative windbreaks consisting of at least one tree row were combined with appropriate search terms for the eight ES bundles in individual searches resulting in a total of 6094 hits. We considered only publications that provided quantitative data and allowed to derive a clear effect of windbreaks on ES so that 222 publications from all over the world were quantitatively and qualitatively analyzed. The outcomes provide information about the dimension of effort, scientific consensus or dissensus, and knowledge gaps in the different research disciplines involved. It was shown that windbreaks bring predominantly positive effects to landscapes in the course of all investigated ES bundles. Apparent positive effects were found for soil protection, biodiversity and pest control, whereas for biomass production, nutrient and water balance, also adverse or indifferent effects were reported. The present review reveals an intense need for further interdisciplinary research using indicators, ES approaches or similar instruments that enable quantitative and comparable statements about the functionality of windbreaks in rural landscapes.

We measured nitrogen oxides (N₂O and NO_x), dinitrogen (N₂) and carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions from a spruce-fir-beech forest soil in the North Tyrolean limestone Alps in Austria. The site received 10.6–11.9 kg N ha⁻¹ y⁻¹ nitrogen as bulk deposition. Fluxes of nitric oxide (NO) were measured by an automatic dynamic chamber system on an hourly basis over a two year period. Daily N₂O emissions were obtained by a semi-automatic gas measuring system. In order to cover spatial variability biweekly manual measurements of N₂O and CO₂ emissions were carried out in addition. For acquiring information on the effects of soil and meteorological conditions and of N-deposition on N-emissions we chose the auto-regression procedure (time-series analysis) as our means of investigation. Hence, we could exclude the data's autocorrelation in the course of the time. We found that soil temperature, soil moisture and bulk N-deposition followed by air temperature and precipitation were the most powerful influencing parameters effecting N-emissions. With these variables, up to 89% of observed temporal variations of N-emissions could be explained. During the two-year investigation period between 2.5 and 3.5% of deposited N was reemitted in form of N₂O whereas only 0.2% were emitted as NO. At our mountain forest site the main end-product of microbial activity processes was N₂ and trace gases (N₂O and NO) were only of minor importance.